Kennett artist’s work to highlighted at World Meeting of Families

KENNETT SQUARE — Kennett Square artist Neilson Carlin has been commissioned to create the focal artwork for the Eighth World Meeting of Families to be held in Philadelphia, Sept. 22 to 27, 2015.

Carlin was contacted by Bishop John McIntyre and commissioned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to create a painting of the Holy Family for the 2015 World Meeting of Families. The piece will be 4’ x 5’ oil painting which will be reproduced for all promotion and advertising, both national and international. It will be on display during the meeting festivities and on permanent display afterward in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

“I’m honored by the selection, of course,” says Carlin, “but mostly humbled by the opportunity to use my talents to serve the Church and my fellow Catholics at such a tremendous convocation.”

The World Meeting of Families, with the theme “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive” is expected to draw more than one million people to Philadelphia and reach a global audience. The World Meeting of Families has sought to strengthen the sacred bonds of family across the globe. Each event has a theme, which aims to emphasize the good news of the family and highlight its intrinsic value to the good of society.

A public unveiling of the artwork is planned for September 2014.

Carlin has 20 years of experience in both the commercial and fine arts. His emphasis is portrait and figurative painting, and he specializes in large-scale commission work for the Catholic Church. Carlin was one of just four artists from across the country commissioned to complete a series of 4’ x 11’ paintings to adorn the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Other clients include the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri, and The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In addition to his commissioned work, Carlin has taught for more than 15 years at his school, Studio Rilievo School of Painting in Kennett Square. Through the studio, he is training the next generation of artists in the tradition of representational painting.